It's very inconsistent and it doesn't give any discount. Most of the time, it's going to become a minion which isn't good enough for constructed. Maybe it's worth it for the home run potential. Seems like a weaker version of unstable portal.
But even considering the 1 mana cost discount, Unstable Portal gives you only one shot at random, Shifter Zerus keeps offering you a new choice every turn until you decide to play him, that got to count for something, no?
Ok Blizzard, we get it, with GvG rotating out of Standard you had to give someting back to Rage Orc/Trolden etc etc to make videos and generate hype/free advertisement.
i love this card ...... ill so use it in like all my decks but hey im the sort of player that sits around rank 14 using a reno warrior deck with iron Juggernaut madder bomber mad bomber and bomb lobber
Looks like a trash card to me. Why run him in hopes that he will turn into a good minion instead of just running the good minion itself? As for the "flexibility" argument, that is pure nonsense. The chances that he will time his transformation perfectly to suit that empty turn of yours is very small (e.g. turning into a 3-drop on your third turn).
Great card! Not because it's highly competetive, but because it's fun. I wish it was a 1/2 or 2/1 though to give us at least some incentive to play this on turn 1.
Seems like a pretty bad card to me with no upside unless you pray and are gifted from the RNG gods. Now if the transformed card still costs 1 mana then it could be OP but I don't think that is how it works.
Not had chance to read the whole thread so how does this fit in the WoG mythos? Is this just a filler for the set?
This card is actually very complex. Assuming you start the game with it in hand, by turn 15 you have seen 14 options. But, most minions will be too expensive to utilize in the first turns, and often the mana cost will be above or below what you have for a while. The higher your mana ramps up, the better this card becomes. If you hold it for a while, eventually a good minion of a random mana cost will pop up, but it might be hard to fit into your mana curve.
It is difficult to use any tech cards that arise, because the odds of getting a good tech card like owl or BGH is very very low, and the odds of it lining up with the enemy board are even lower, but of course it will pop up once in a while. Overall, I feel that you can count on it to give you something decent most of the time at some point, but it will often leave you with some extra mana, so you might only be able to hero power with it, or use a removal spell or something.
The card seems to have synergy with ramp, because it becomes much more flexible earlier in the game than it otherwise would be, and you reduce the chance of missing out on a quality high mana drop. So Druid is a contender for possibly being able to utilize this card.
Similarly, a control deck that prolongs the game might get very good value from the little guy, sometimes getting a key defensive minion or a big late game bomb of the tirion/ysera sort, or just a random body with stats to get a card out of your hand to prevent an overdraw, etc... I wouldn't be surprised to see this at all in control decks.
And then you have reno decks, where especially in standard you might be lacking in powerful minions due to the lack of doubles. Having the flex spot can help you throw out powerful bodies to keep up with board control. For renolock, they can easily afford a card slot that they don't use for a long time thanks to the hero power draws. So the cost of running this little guy in renolock is very low, and the potential upside might be worth it.
I am really excited about this card. Just like the discover mechanic turned out to be really useful, so will this. You chose what outcome you want, You aren't going to choose to play something crappy, you'd rather keep it in your hand. Yes, sometimes it will fail you, just like sometimes you discover only useless minions or spellls, but in general I think you can end up playing something worthwhile if not game winning.
People who argue "you don't have to play it if it turns into a bad minion, you can just keep it until it becomes something good" make it sound like there is no cost to having a dead card in hand. Again, if you wanted a good minion, why wouldn't you include that minion in your deck instead of this piece of crap?
Also, stop comparing this to the Discover mechanic. The only way this card would be like Discover is if Discover gave you only 1 card and forced you to play it immediately at full cost, i.e., it is NOT like Discover at all.
People who argue "you don't have to play it if it turns into a bad minion, you can just keep it until it becomes something good" make it sound like there is no cost to having a dead card in hand. Again, if you wanted a good minion, why wouldn't you include that minion in your deck instead of this piece of crap?
Also, stop comparing this to the Discover mechanic. The only way this card would be like Discover is if Discover gave you only 1 card and forced you to play it immediately at full cost, i.e., it is NOT like Discover at all.
discovery doesn't give a mana reduction and hand lock and some control decks might not pay that high cost of a price from having a potentially dead card in their hand for a few turn. It's more like a card that recasts Unstable Portal on itself every turn.
Ok Blizzard, we get it, with GvG rotating out of Standard you had to give someting back to Rage Orc/Trolden etc etc to make videos and generate hype/free advertisement.
Now stahp, pls.
i love this card ...... ill so use it in like all my decks but hey im the sort of player that sits around rank 14 using a reno warrior deck with iron Juggernaut madder bomber mad bomber and bomb lobber
Looks like a trash card to me. Why run him in hopes that he will turn into a good minion instead of just running the good minion itself? As for the "flexibility" argument, that is pure nonsense. The chances that he will time his transformation perfectly to suit that empty turn of yours is very small (e.g. turning into a 3-drop on your third turn).
Great card! Not because it's highly competetive, but because it's fun. I wish it was a 1/2 or 2/1 though to give us at least some incentive to play this on turn 1.
This will fit nicely in the mad bomber deck I'm building.
Seems like a pretty bad card to me with no upside unless you pray and are gifted from the RNG gods. Now if the transformed card still costs 1 mana then it could be OP but I don't think that is how it works.
Not had chance to read the whole thread so how does this fit in the WoG mythos? Is this just a filler for the set?
This will be a blast to get off Elise Starseeker. Poor Paletress, though.
This card is actually very complex. Assuming you start the game with it in hand, by turn 15 you have seen 14 options. But, most minions will be too expensive to utilize in the first turns, and often the mana cost will be above or below what you have for a while. The higher your mana ramps up, the better this card becomes. If you hold it for a while, eventually a good minion of a random mana cost will pop up, but it might be hard to fit into your mana curve.
It is difficult to use any tech cards that arise, because the odds of getting a good tech card like owl or BGH is very very low, and the odds of it lining up with the enemy board are even lower, but of course it will pop up once in a while. Overall, I feel that you can count on it to give you something decent most of the time at some point, but it will often leave you with some extra mana, so you might only be able to hero power with it, or use a removal spell or something.
The card seems to have synergy with ramp, because it becomes much more flexible earlier in the game than it otherwise would be, and you reduce the chance of missing out on a quality high mana drop. So Druid is a contender for possibly being able to utilize this card.
Similarly, a control deck that prolongs the game might get very good value from the little guy, sometimes getting a key defensive minion or a big late game bomb of the tirion/ysera sort, or just a random body with stats to get a card out of your hand to prevent an overdraw, etc... I wouldn't be surprised to see this at all in control decks.
And then you have reno decks, where especially in standard you might be lacking in powerful minions due to the lack of doubles. Having the flex spot can help you throw out powerful bodies to keep up with board control. For renolock, they can easily afford a card slot that they don't use for a long time thanks to the hero power draws. So the cost of running this little guy in renolock is very low, and the potential upside might be worth it.
Totally insane ! I love it, for one mana only next turn you can have better one.
Perhaps it can be a fun card for mage with Duplicate & Echo of Medivh...
to be tested !
12 wins in ArenA with: Mage and Paladin, first time legend with Rogue
I am really excited about this card. Just like the discover mechanic turned out to be really useful, so will this. You chose what outcome you want, You aren't going to choose to play something crappy, you'd rather keep it in your hand. Yes, sometimes it will fail you, just like sometimes you discover only useless minions or spellls, but in general I think you can end up playing something worthwhile if not game winning.
Would be good if it said "its cost (2) less"
It's been a while since Unstable Portal, and now you give us this. PERFECT! I LOVE IT!
Why would you play random minion in a control deck, instead of having the minion you want?
In aggro deck - useless.
People who argue "you don't have to play it if it turns into a bad minion, you can just keep it until it becomes something good" make it sound like there is no cost to having a dead card in hand. Again, if you wanted a good minion, why wouldn't you include that minion in your deck instead of this piece of crap?
Also, stop comparing this to the Discover mechanic. The only way this card would be like Discover is if Discover gave you only 1 card and forced you to play it immediately at full cost, i.e., it is NOT like Discover at all.
Tfw this became Tyrion by turn 7 (without the coin, of course)
Hmm, if you get this out of an Unstable Portal and the next turn it shifts, will the new minion get the mana discount?
if this card will become for example Tirion or Deathwing it will cost 1 or full mana???